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Napster ups song bitrate

Napster unveiled an update to its software and music subscription service. At …

Say hello to Napster 3.5: a handful of upgrades to Napster's software and subscription service. Foremost among them is an increase in the bitrate of its music library, from 128Kbps to 192Kbps. There's also a "Playlist of the Day" accessible from Napster's homepage, UI changes, a recommendation engine that uses "unique algorithms," and new interactive tools.

Current Napster subscribers will be able to download new 192Kbps tracks to replace their 128Kbps. The higher-bitrate tracks are also available to those who use Napster as a music store rather than a music-rental service. However, there is no upgrade pathcustomers will have to buy the new tracks if they decide 128Kbps doesn't cut it for them anymore. Naturally, bitrate is not the ultimate indicator of music quality. But if bitrate is that big of a deal, you're better of buying and ripping CDs yourself, or buying lossless music from questionable services like allofmp3.com. For the typical nonaudiophile music buyer, 192 > 128, end of story.

While some of Napster's new features fall into the "that's sort of interesting" category, the bitrate increase is the centerpiece of Napster 3.5. With the move to 192Kbps, Napster now matches Yahoo! Music on bitrate, and exceeds Microsoft Music's 160Kbps as well as Apple's comparatively puny 128Kbps. With the second incarnation of Napster the music service struggling to achieve profitability and grab market share from an increasingly crowded field, the company needs to do everything in its power to set it apart from the competition. It seems to me that the increase is aimed primarily at Yahoo! Music Unlimited, which offers both subscription and per-download options. Now the primary attraction of Yahoo is priceUS$6.99 per month, billed monthlyas Napster more or less has feature parity.

What of the 800-pound gorilla of online music, Apple? Even if Napster is targeting the subscription service competition with Napster 3.5, you can bet it will tout the significantly higher bitrate of its service vs. iTunes Music Store's 128Kbps in its advertising. So far, Apple has resisted increasing the bitrate of the tracks offered on iTMS. However, if all of its major competitors are offering songs encoded at a minimum of 160Kbps, it may force Apple's hand. Or not... insulated by its commanding market share, the company has so far danced to its own tune, regardless of what the competition has done.

Eric Bangeman
Eric has been using personal computers since 1980 and writing about them at Ars Technica since 2003, where he currently serves as Managing Editor. Twitter@ericbangeman